If you’ve been reading CenterCutCook for any length of time, you are already well aware of my love for all things chocolate and peanut butter! If you’re new here, it won’t take you much time to come this this conclusion. I adore chocolate, I adore peanut butter, and I adore chocolate and peanut butter even more when they’re TOGETHER!

With that, let me introduce you to the Reese’s Peanut Butter Cup Brownies! The method behind these beauties is simple. You start with your favorite recipe for brownies, whether they come from a box or are made from scratch, it doesn’t matter! I’ve got two favorite brownie recipes that you could try, including Triple Chocolate Chewy Brownies or The Best Brownies. As for boxed brownies, my go-to is Ghirardelli Triple Chocolate Brownie Mix that Costco sells.

Start by baking a batch of your favorite brownies in an 8 x 8 or 9 x 9 baking dish lined with foil. I went with the Ghirardelli brownies this time, just because I had them on hand. About 3-5 minutes before you’re done baking them, pop ’em out of the oven and begin placing the peanut butter cups face-down in the brownies. Press down on them, just a bit.

Continue placing the peanut butter cups so that the entire pan is covered, leaving a little space in-between each peanut butter cup. Put the brownies back into the oven for the remaining 3-5 minutes that are left. When you take the brownies out of the oven, the chocolate from the peanut butter cups will be all melty. Take a spatula and spread the peanut butter cups over the brownies, almost like it’s a frosting.

The peanut butter portion of each peanut butter cup won’t really melt, as it’s not pure peanut butter, but the chocolate will, and that’s what you’ll spread around. At this point you need to let the brownies cool COMPLETELY.

I know, it’s difficult waiting for the cooling process to finish, but you really do want to wait until these guys are completely cooled before you do anything with them. Sometimes I put them in the fridge to help it go a little faster. When the brownies are completely cooled, chop up a few extra peanut butter cups and sprinkle the peanut buttery/chocolate goodness over the top of the brownies, Cut into squares and serve!

Now, typically I get about 9 brownies when I make an 8 x 8 inch pan. However, these are pretty rich (in a good way) with the addition of the peanut butter cups, so you could probably cut the pieces a little smaller. I’ll let you decide that! If you want to get extra fancy, drizzle chocolate syrup over each brownie and serve. Holy moly, this is good stuff!

Seriously, does a marriage between chocolate and peanut butter get any better than this? Go make these brownies, now! ;)

INGREDIENTS

DIRECTIONS

Bake brownies according to package directions in an 8 x 8 inch or 9 x 9 inch pan. Line the pan with foil in both directions, then spray the foil with cooking spray. This will make it easier to lift the brownies out of the pan when they are done cooking.

About 3-5 minutes before the brownies are done baking, pull them out of the oven and place around 9 snack sized peanut butter cups, face-down, over the tops of the brownies. Gently press the peanut butter cups into the brownies.

Return the pan to the oven for the remaining 3-5 minutes.

When you take the brownies out of the pan, the chocolate from the peanut butter cups will have melted. Use a spatula to spread the melted chocolate over the brownies, almost like frosting. The peanut butter portion of the peanut butter cups won’t melt, so don’t expect to be able to spread that part.

Allow the brownies to cool COMPLETELY. I let the brownies cool at room-temperature for about 30 minutes, then placed them in the refrigerator about about an hour.

Chop the remaining 5 Reese’s peanut butter cups. Sprinkle over the top of the brownies. Cut into squares and serve. Drizzle chocolate syrup over the top of the brownies if you wish.